


Let the Fire Burn

by TheGreatCatsby



Category: All-New X-Factor, Avengers (Comics), Marvel (Comics), X-Factor (Comics), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Axis - Freeform, Canon Divergence, Sibling Bonding, What if?, cameos from Doug and Warlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-02-22 02:24:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2490995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatCatsby/pseuds/TheGreatCatsby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a war on, but Lorna thought her team was safe. She was wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let the Fire Burn

**Author's Note:**

> So this is in anticipation of tomorrow's ANXF issue, where the whole AXIS thing reaches the team in D.C. In this issue, it looks like Remy gets a dose of telepathic hatred, but I was prompted on Tumblr to do a sort of what-if, where Pietro attacks the team instead. So, enjoy!

Pietro skidded to a halt in front of Lorna, windswept and holding what looked like a small USB drive in front of her face. 

“You'd think it'd be more impressive,” Lorna said, plucking the drive from his hand. 

“Impressive screams target,” Pietro said. He glanced at the Lincoln Memorial, which was on fire. “I can see things are going well.” 

“I'm trying to put out the fire,” Lorna said, “but it's too much. Remy--”

“Is here,” Remy appeared from behind Pietro, breathless and covered in soot. “On the bright side, we pretty much took down all the security around here that wanted ta shoot everything. On the not-so-bright side, there's probably more. And everything's on fire.” 

Lorna massaged her temples. “Great. I don't know how the hell Snow expects us to manage this.” 

“We're the only super team D.C.'s got,” Remy reminded her. 

“Yeah, well,” Lorna waved her hand at the fire, “we're stretched thin as it is. Doug still hasn't found a way to counteract the telepathic thing that's making everyone go crazy. I can't put out that fire.” 

Pietro was considering the blaze with a frown on his face. “I'm not sure I could run around the memorial fast enough to displace the oxygen. It could work, or it could fan the flames and make things worse.” 

“I told Danger and Warlock to come back as soon as they were done with the Pentagon,” Lorna said. “Maybe they'll have a plan.” 

“Because robots and flames work so well together,” Pietro muttered, rolling his eyes. 

“Well, I don't see you having any better ideas,” Lorna said. “I'm gonna try to dump more water on this thing. You two, shut up.” She focused on a large chunk of metal and dunked it into the water of the nearby pond, scooping up as much as she could, before floating it over to the flames. She'd done this twice already, and it hadn't helped, but it was something. 

“Does marble even burn?” Remy asked. 

“Shut up,” Lorna growled. 

“I think Danger's returning,” Pietro said. 

Lorna tipped the metal make-shift container and water poured over the flames. “Okay we--” Her voice was drowned out by a strange sound. She and the others looked up and saw a helicopter coming towards them. 

“Damn,” Remy said. “How much you wanna bet they're friendly?” 

The words had barely left his mouth when shots rang through the air. “Lorna!” Pietro yelled, and he dashed forward and knocked her out of the line of fire. 

Then there was an explosion, the force of which tossed Lorna and Pietro into the air and forced them to land hard. Lorna fell on top of Pietro and rolled off him. From behind the smoke, she heard Remy yell, “Danger's back!” 

“Great,” Lorna said. She forced herself to her feet and looked down at Pietro. He was blinking slowly, trying to get his bearings. She reached down and grabbed his hand, pulling him up. “Come on.” 

He put a hand to his head and swayed dangerously. “I think my head broke your fall,” he said. 

Lorna tried not to laugh. She turned around and saw a wall of flames and the outline of a broken helicopter. “Shit,” she said into her comm. “Remy, you okay?” 

“Yup, Danger and Warlock just arrived,” Remy said. “Danger shot down the helicopter, you might wanna put out the fire. There's a few survivors--” 

“Thanks,” Lorna cut him off and started concentrating on the big metal thing she'd been using as a container, dipping it into the water again and floating it towards the new flames. 

Behind her, Pietro said, “Ughhh.” 

“I'm not that heavy,” Lorna snapped. Sweat broke out across her forehead. The water was almost there...

A strong arm yanked her back, causing her to drop the metal and the water within it. Luckily, it was over the fire, and the water extinguished the flames. But Lorna was more worried about the fact that she'd just been pulled down. 

“Pietro!” she cried. “I need back-” She choked on her words when her attacker came into her line of sight, pinning her to the ground. 

Pietro. 

His eyes were burning with anger. She hadn't seen him like this before, and suddenly she knew. “Guys,” she said into her comm, “I'm in trouble. Pietro--” 

Pietro slapped her across the face. 

“Well, screw you too,” Lorna said. 

Pietro wasn't listening. He grabbed something off the ground, raised it high in the air. Lorna saw the glint of metal, realized that he was actually going to stab her, and that's when something hit Pietro and exploded, sending him flying off Lorna and into the grass a few feet away. 

Shakily, Lorna got up and saw that Remy was running towards where Pietro had fallen, another card already charging in his hand. 

Pietro caught sight of him and rushed forward. His fist connected with Remy's face, sending him to his knees. Pietro kicked him in the back, and Remy crashed into the dirt. Pietro grabbed his staff and swung it around, and it connected with Remy's skull with a resounding crack. Remy collapsed and didn't move. 

Pietro turned to Lorna. 

Lorna gathered up all the metal around her, but she wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to hurt Pietro, but he rushed at her and she attacked. 

He dodged every single piece of metal she threw at him, and his whole body hit hers, sending her flying. She didn't even register what had happened when she crashed until she swallowed cold water, and then Pietro was on top of her, holding her under. 

She thrashed and tried to use her powers, tried to hit Pietro with things. Her lungs burned with the need to cough up the water she'd swallowed, to take a breath. But he held her tight. She could barely see his face above the surface—it looked distorted. And she thought, the last thing she'd see before she died was the hatred in his eyes. 

Her vision was going black. Her muscles had stopped responding. 

And then, suddenly, the pressure on top of her disappeared. Red droplets rained down, staining the water red, obscuring her vision, and she thought that perhaps this was it, this was her death. 

Something slid underneath her back, lifted her out of the water. Danger's face slid into view, and she was saying something. Lorna coughed up water and tried to understand, but she couldn't. 

Instead, she passed out. 

*

Lorna was warm. Not uncomfortably warm, but the kind of warmth that reminded her of snow days and sitting on the couch covered in blankets and sipping hot chocolate. It was nice, and it lasted for about two minutes. 

Then she felt the aches return, all over her body. She had a headache that was beginning to pound behind her eyes. She blinked, and the light in the room nearly blinded her. She managed to adjust, but not without giving herself even more of a headache than she'd had before. 

She was in a hospital room. Probably Serval's medical wing, because Serval was a big enough company to have one of those. She turned her head and saw Remy playing with his cards in the chair next to her bed. 

She cleared her throat. 

Remy nearly jumped. He did drop some of his cards, but didn't bother to pick them up. Instead he stared at Lorna for a moment and then grinned. “You're awake!” 

“And I feel like hell,” Lorna snapped. “I'm assuming our attempts to save D.C. were a bust?” 

“Not necessarily,” Remy said. “We managed ta avert a national crisis, although you may have destroyed the nuclear missile codes when you hit the water. Doug's checking it out, but no one really needs those, anyway. And we're, uh, all not dead.” 

Lorna narrowed her eyes. “Where's Pietro?” 

Remy's grin faded. Now he actually looked a bit scared. “You're not gonna like this one bit.” 

“Of course not,” Lorna muttered. “Let's just get it over with.”

“So Pietro went a bit nuts, like all the people who've been affected by this telepathic thing have been,” Remy said, “and he tried ta kill you. Drown you, specifically. After he knocked me out. I got a mean cut on the back of my head, by the way, blood in my hair, not pleasant--”

“Remy,” Lorna warned. 

“Right,” Remy said, “so anyway, from what I was told, Danger realized you were in danger,” a small chuckle, Lorna glared at him, “and she, well,” here Remy went pale, “she stabbed Pietro so he'd stop attacking you.” 

“Stabbed him,” Lorna repeated. 

“Through the chest,” Remy said, nodding. “Not through his heart. He ain't dead. Just, pretty injured. She punctured a lung and he was bleeding pretty bad, but nothing Serval can't fix. The important thing is, she saved your life.” 

Lorna remembered the rage in Pietro's eyes. “Thanks,” she said. “Can I have some time alone?” 

“You sure you're alright?” Remy asked. 

“Fine,” Lorna said. “I just need to think.” 

Remy nodded, pushed himself out of the chair, and left the room. Some of his cards were still scattered on the floor. 

Lorna pushed herself into a sitting position and pulled off her hospital gown. There were two deep, purple bruises on her shoulders that looked like they came from hands. She remembered Pietro holding her down, not letting go, not even when she thrashed like something wild and desperate. There were more bruises on her legs, probably from him trying to keep her under however he could. 

She touched her cheek. It felt sore. Another bruise, probably, from when he slapped her. 

Lorna had thought, when they went out on their mission, that they were safe from whatever war was going on with the rest of the heroes. 

And she'd been horribly wrong. 

*

Pietro's room was separate from hers, in another part of Serval's science wing. (“Science wing, not medical wing”, Doug had told her when he came to visit. “There is a difference and I'm not sure I like it.” She'd ignored him.) But she hadn't gone to see him. 

She needed to talk to him. She wasn't afraid of him, she knew that he hadn't been in his own mind when he'd attacked her, but still. She knew that if she put off talking to him, she would become afraid. She'd lose the trust for him that she'd spent the past few months building up. 

There was the possibility she'd already waited too long. It'd been about a week. She'd had nightmares. But she'd wanted to wait until she was released from care, given the all-clear, before talking to Pietro. And then the doctors had told her that they were testing Pietro to make sure that he wasn't still under any outside influence. And then they'd told her to wait until he'd been released. 

When he was released, she asked the doctors where he'd gone, and they told her that he was resting in his room. She went there immediately, not wanting to put things off any longer. 

She opened the door and walked in. 

Pietro was sitting on his bed bed. He looked pale, sick, and his face was pinched. There were dark circles under his eyes. 

“Lorna,” he rasped when he saw her. He stood up, and then sat down again, hard, like his legs couldn't hold him up. There was a pause, and then he suddenly couldn't stop talking. “I didn't think you wanted to see me. I'm so sorry. I don't know how I can make up for what happened. I wasn't strong enough, I didn't fight hard enough, and that thing almost made me kill you and if I had I-don't-think-I-could-live-with-myself.” 

By the time he finished Lorna had reached the bed and sat down next to him. “There's nothing to forgive,” she said. “It wasn't your fault.” 

“I slipped up,” Pietro insisted. “I --”

“No,” Lorna said. “They told me that because you got a concussion, it slowed your mind enough that you were compromised. Not your fault.” 

Pietro shuddered. “Lorna, if Danger hadn't gotten there in time, you'd be dead,” he said. “I can't eat. I can't sleep. I can't think, because every time I do I,” he swallowed, “I remember it clearly, and how much I wanted you to stop moving. How can any of you trust me? I hurt Remy, I nearly killed you, I would have torn the others apart if I'd been left alone.” 

“Pietro,” Lorna started. “You--”

“I deserve this wound,” Pietro said. “I deserve more than--”

“Shut up,” Lorna snapped. “You know, for the past few days, I've had nightmares. But you know what gets me past them? Knowing that it's not real. That wasn't you. You actually care about me. Sometimes you have a pretty crappy way of showing it, but you'd never kill me. You wouldn't even kill Remy, as much as we all want to sometimes. So stop. Just stop.” 

“I've hurt everyone in my family,” Pietro said quietly. “I thought that I wouldn't hurt you. I promised myself, and then this. I failed you, Lorna. I wasn't strong enough to fight it, and I hurt you, and--”

“It's okay,” Lorna said, wrapping her arms around her brother. He was shaking. “I'm not dead, and if anyone's gonna kill me it's not gonna be you. Pietro, you haven't failed me. Other people in our family have, but not you.” 

Pietro shuddered in her arms. She was aware that he was crying. She ran her hand down his back, felt the bandages underneath his shirt, and shuddered. They'd both come close to dying. And he wasn't even worried that he'd almost died as well. 

She felt, for the first time, the sisterly urge to make it better. 

“Here's the plan,” she said, pulling back so that she could look at his face. “We find out who's responsible, and we stop them. We make them pay for what they've done. They want to tear the world apart? Fine. We'll tear them apart first.” 

Pietro nodded, his expression becoming hard. Angry. “I won't let this happen again,” he said. “I won't lose you.”

“I won't let this team fall apart,” Lorna promised. “And I won't let us fall apart, either.” 

There may have been a war going on, but this was a promise she would keep. 

Of that, she was certain.


End file.
